News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK
The British Theatre Guide Newsletter
No 1232: 5 October 2025
Editorial
It’s been my busiest teaching weekend for a little while, with a couple of in-person drama workshops with local children and young people (my voice is still recovering) and a couple of theatre webinars with adult students scattered around the world.
Just a few miles closer to Manchester, Hope Mill Theatre, a small theatre in an old mill building in Ancoats that has built up a national reputation for its musical theatre productions over its ten-year existence, is now offering full-time degree courses in musical theatre performance, to begin in a year’s time. It had a ‘community hub’ that hosted a theatre school, orchestra and choir, but that had to be closed last year due to increased costs. The new degree courses are in partnership with Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, which will validate the qualifications.
It’s nearly 8 years since I spoke to Joseph Houston about their fairly new but already successful venue for our podcast (from memory, I think William Whelton, his partner in both work and life, was supposed to be there too but had to back out to deal with a burst pipe), by which time they had already transferred productions to London and been mentioned in the Stage 100, the list compiled each year by The Stage newspaper of the most influential people in British theatre. Go back and listen to this for their remarkable origin story.
Philip Fisher has given his views on this venture in his feature this week, and we also have a news article about it. Philip predicts that the 30 places will be “massively over-subscribed”; a quick search on the Complete University Guide turns up 111 undergraduate courses at 39 universities for ‘musical theatre’, but while some may offer good facilities for theatre production, none is based in a well-established producing theatre.
There has been a lot mentioned over the last week about Yorkshire poet Tony Harrison following his death at the age of 88, but I wanted to add to this one of the most memorable theatrical experiences of my life created by him.
In 2000 (I think—there is curiously little mention of it online in contrast to the 1985 original), the National Theatre revived Bill Bryden’s promenade production of The Mysteries by Harrison in the Cottesloe, as it was then (now the Dorfman). On a promenade ticket on the lower level, seeing all three parts in a single day, I saw the likes of Jack Shepherd as Lucifer (recovering from a cold) conversing with David Bradley atop a forklift truck as God, Don Warrington as Angel Gabriel and Sue Johnston being pushed past me in a wheelchair as Mary, mother of Jesus. Plus I joined in the dancing, of course, as Linda Thompson sang with the folk band on stage. Those who opted for a seated ticket in the balconies missed out on a lot. I still have the poster in my office, reminding me just how exhilarating theatre can be at its best.
I do remember lingering after part 2, The Passion, chatting to an old friend I’d run into there when someone from the stage crew asked if we’d move out because they had to get ready for Doomsday…
Finally, Ticketmaster has a lot of offers on West End theatre tickets until 19 October. If you buy tickets from one of the links to them here or on our web site, we will receive a small fee at no extra cost to you.
Nine actors have been added to the cast of the world première of Humphrey Ker and David Reed’s Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas at Birmingham Rep.
Nine actors have been added to the cast of the world première of Humphrey Ker and David Reed’s Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas at Birmingham Rep.
Nine actors have been added to the cast of the world première of Humphrey Ker and David Reed’s Sherlock Holmes and The Twelve Days of Christmas at Birmingham Rep.
Little Women (Lee Dean and Daniel Schumann, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, The Belgrave Coventry and Blackpool Grand Theatre) - Darlington Hippodrome, Darlington, –
Miss Saigon (Michael Harrison in association with Cameron Mackintosh) - Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne, –
Mary Poppins (Cameron Mackintosh and Disney) - Sunderland Empire, Sunderland, –
